The purple-crowned fairy (Heliothryx barroti) is a species of hummingbird in the subfamily Polytminae, the mangoes.

It and the black-eared fairy (Heliothryx auritus) were treated as conspecific by some authors but are now considered to be a superspecies; they are the only members of the genus.

[6][7][3] Its scientific name commemorates Adolphe Barrot (1801–1870), a French diplomat who served in Colombia from 1831 to 1835.

Immatures have cinnamon fringes on their upperpart's plumage and the throat and breast have sparse dusky spots.

It also feeds on small arthropods (favoring spiders) by hovering and gleaning from foliage.

It places the nest near the tip of a thin branch, usually between 6 and 20 m (20 and 66 ft) above the ground and often over water.

It does make a call that has been described as "a high, thin, slightly metallic sssit, which may be run into longer rapid series.